Air Liquide Canada plans to build an air separation unit in Bécancour in order to supply industrial gases to the manufacturers of battery components installed there.
Published at 3:09 p.m.
The planned investment amounts to 200 million, it was mentioned during the public information meeting held on December 18 by the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment.
The purpose of the unit is to produce oxygen and liquid nitrogen, including medical oxygen, from the outside air. Once the air is purified, its different elements (oxygen, nitrogen, argon) will be separated then distilled; the components will then be largely returned in gaseous form and will be transported by pipeline to customers in the industrial park.
The production capacity is 770 tonnes per day of oxygen, including 100 tonnes of liquid oxygen. A second unit of similar size is currently under study. Construction of the first unit should be completed next October. Once operational, the unit will employ 10 people and generate daily traffic of 10 trucks.
A French company, Air Liquide has been present in Quebec since 1911. It has produced carbon-free hydrogen in the Bécancour industrial park since 1987. Elsewhere in the province, it already operates three air separation units in Contrecœur, Varennes and in the Capitale-Nationale region. Following the December 18 session, citizens have 30 days to ask the Minister of the Environment to hold a public review of the project.
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